Lucky Luke Volume 46 The Pony Express

In 1860, getting from Missouri to California on the West Coast took a long, long time – not to mention a certain degree of courage. Annoyed at the delay in communication, the federal government offers a grant to whoever can solve the problem and set-up a fast, reliable mail system linking East and West. In response, entrepreneur W.H. Russell founds the Pony Express company: fearless men riding day and night, changing horses at way stations. But not everyone likes that idea...

Everyone knows Joe, Jack, William and Averell Dalton, the four dumbest desperadoes in the Old West and the worst enemies of Lucky Luke’s holidays. But before them, Luke had also encountered their cousins: real-life legends of the West Bob, Grat, Bill and Emmett. When these four began making too much trouble, Luke was called to get rid of them. Fortunately for him, they weren’t much brighter than their successors... but they did provide plenty of entertainment!

We all know that Lucky Luke has a busy life. When it’s not Washington calling upon him for some national project, it’s the local penitentiary asking him to recapture the Daltons. But not every moment is spent in such grand adventures. Here is a collection of smaller stories depicting the everyday life of our cowboy, from taking a child to the dentist to helping passing settlers – and even attending a classical concert in Houston! What a full life he leads!

Lucky Luke arrives at Navajo City just in time to sign up for the town’s big rodeo. But the prize money promised to the winner is attracting some unsavoury types, and among the participating cowboys is one Cactus Kid, an unrepentant bully and outlaw. The clash is inevitable, both in and outside the arena, and Luke will have to fight with his customary aplomb and humour – before riding off to new adventures.

Gold has been found in the Klondike, a remote region in the Canadian far north! Jasper, the manservant of ‘Tenderfoot’ Waldo, went to try his luck ... and vanished. Worried about his man, Waldo calls upon his old friend Lucky Luke. The two men will have to make the dangerous trip to the Klondike, only to face all those who, in that desolate, inhospitable land, will stop at nothing in order to fleece their fellow man.

é Returned to their penitentiary by Lucky Luke for the umpteenth time, the Daltons meet a troubling character: Dunkle, a self-proclaimed prophet fond of fiery speeches. His continual preaching eventually converts the ever hapless Averell. Soon, all five escape together and find refuge in a friendly, welcoming community, where they sow chaos and discord each in their own way – unaware that Lucky Luke is already tracking them ...

Marcel Dalton is the Dalton Brothers’ Swiss uncle. He is not only honest, but a banker to boot. Having purchased a small bank in the US, he decides to hire his nephews to force them to make a honest living. Although he’s assisted by Lucky Luke, they have their work cut out for them. Especially since – as if the ingrained instincts of the four dumbest bandits in the West weren’t enough – there’s also the small matter of the competition: a very unscrupulous banker ...

Lucky Luke is contacted by a rich individual with an unusual request: he wants to hire the Lonesome Cowboy to escort his stepdaughter Gisella on a trip across the Wild West. He wants her to see for himself the hard life of settlers and frontiersmen at least once before she settles into a comfortable married life. Luke arranges a few fake, safe incidents to entertain the young woman, but she’s no shrinking violet, and tends to charge headlong into trouble ...